Rummel stages fourth quarter rally to down U-High

METAIRIE – Never say die. It’s not over until it’s over.

Coming off an excruciating, last minute, one-point loss at Ouachita Parish, a banged-up Archbishop Rummel team hosted a University Lab squad ranked No. 1 in Class 3A by Crescent City Sports Friday night at Joe Yenni Stadium.

Missing both starting guards, including captain Ja’Mard Jones, as well as defensive star and Stanford commit Darius Davis, the Raiders summoned a host of young players who grew up quickly.

Trailing by 10 points at the half, the Raiders staged a furious fourth quarter rally to shock the Cubs 20-17.

Junior quarterback Evan Burg, a Tulane baseball commit, connected with senior Ruben Ramirez on a 67-yard touchdown pass for the winning score.

The young Rummel defense, which shut out the powerful Cubs in the second half, stepped up again and got one more stop, and the Raiders offense then made two first downs to run out the clock for a big win.

After a scoreless first quarter, U-High took a 3-0 lead in the second quarter on a 20-yard field goal by Anderson Granville.

Rummel answered with a scoring drive which culminated in a touchdown. Ramirez fumbled near the goal line and sophomore Earnest Richardson alertly recovered it in the end zone to give the Raiders a 7-3 lead. The touchdown was set up by a 71-yard completion from Burg to Jaidyn Martin.

The Cubs then erupted for two touchdowns to take a 17-7 halftime lead.

First, Kylen Moses capped a long drive with a 1-yard run to give U-High a 10-7 lead. Then, junior Alec Haynes picked off a Burg pass over the middle and returned it to the Rummel 17-yard line. Three plays later, Moses punched it in from a yard out to seemingly give the Cubs control of the game.

It stayed that way through the third quarter, but the fourth quarter belonged to the Raiders.

Robert Vaught recovered a fumble for Rummel at the U-High 25-yard line and that set up Martin on a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 17-13 after a botched extra point.

Then, Burg hit Ramirez for the game-winner.

Martin paced the Rummel offense with 95 yards on 20 carries with the touchdown and he caught three passes for 76 yards.

“I just love the fact that Coach Monica put all the responsibility to move the ball downfield to keep the ball secure,” Martin said. “We were determined to finish this week.”

Burg was 4 of 5 for 156 yards with the touchdown and interception.

“The first half, we had no urgency, whatsoever with those three-and-outs,” Burg said. “We got everybody on the same side and rolled with it.”

Ramirez had three catches for 83 yards and the winning score.

Senior Riley Small paced the Cubs with 18 carries for 119 yards. Moses had 13 rushes for 34 yards and the two scores.

“Some of the guys U-High put on the field will be big-time college football players,” Rummel coach Nick Monica said. “I’m extremely proud of our guys. I thought we came out timid in the first half.
We’re so far down on the depth chart at some positions that we’re still learning their names. We finished the game with two freshman safeties in the secondary. They just showed some fight and grit and was awesome to see.”

The Raiders (1-1) face a tough road test at Archbishop Shaw next Friday night in the annual Megaphone game. University High (1-1) will host another elite team in Catholic of Baton Rouge.

“This is their game,” Monica said. “I have people telling me that over the summer at 7-on-7 they were talking about the Rummel game in week three. It’s going to be built up. It was built up last year over there. We expect the same thing.”

Monica praised the Eagles talent level.

“hey are a really improved team,” Monica said. “The last four years, the rivalry has been getting closer and closer and I think it’s there now. We’ll see who’s available and try to put together a good game plan.”

FINAL
University Lab- 0 17 0 0– 17
Rummel- 0 7 0 13– 20